Leading owner Caldwell among horsemen waiting for Remington quarantine to be lifted

Danny Caldwell has won the owner title at Oaklawn Park four of the last six years and he’s looking forward to the start of the Hot Springs, Ark., meet on Jan. 24.

But whether his 36-horse stable can be settled in by that time remains to be seen.

Caldwell is based at his home track of Remington Park – where he has won the Thoroughbred title 10 times – but could be stranded at the Oklahoma City facility for an indefinite period of time after the meet closes Dec. 15. There have been a handful of confirmed tests for equine herpesvirus at Remington dating back to Nov. 14. Other area tracks have placed shipping restrictions on horses from Remington to protect their horse populations.

The earliest Oaklawn is allowing horses who have been at Remington since Dec. 3 onto its grounds is Jan. 2. The date is pending no further confirmed cases. There are still rounds of state-conducted tests to be done at Remington, and they will extend beyond the close of the meet.

“It’s a frustrating deal,” Caldwell said. “Normally, we ship to Oaklawn a week after we’re done here. The track over there is a little deeper. We need to be on that track training from three weeks out. It would be a disadvantage to us if we’re not on that track training.”

Caldwell said his frustration with the situation stems from the fact that it’s his understanding there are no sick horses at Remington. The positive cases – with the exception of the initial horse who was euthanized Nov. 12 – have been asymptomatic cases, according to an official with Remington.

Caldwell noted some horses who have tested positive returned negative tests in subsequent rounds of testing.

“We have no horses with a temperature, no sick horses as of now, from what I’ve been told,” said Caldwell, who sits on the board of the Thoroughbred Racing Association of Oklahoma. “I don’t foresee any other positives, unless they are false positives.”

Caldwell said with state testing required on the more than 100 horses in the two quarantined barns, he feels there are bound to be false positives due to the high numbers.

“You’re going to get some positives when you test a mass amount,” said Caldwell. “So, hopefully everything comes back clean in the next few weeks and we’re able to go to Oaklawn.”

Late Friday, the state issued an update that the quarantine on the first of the two barns to be quarantined has been lifted after the horses in it all tested negative twice over a 14-day period. The second barn and an isolation barn are still under quarantine.

“There have been no additional sick horses on the property,” the update reads. “All horses are being monitored daily for symptoms and additional testing will be taken if any fevers or clinical signs arise. All horses in the quarantined or isolation barns will not be racing, but all other racing will go on as normal at Remington Park.”

The news was seen as significant progress, said Matt Vance, vice president of racing operations for Remington.

“The way we look at it, 50 percent of the horses that were quarantined, the quarantine has been lifted on those horses,” he said Friday.

Caldwell’s barn is not under quarantine, and he said the positives have been 300 to 400 yards from his stable. The quarantined barns have a separate training period, after the general population trains, said Matt Vance, vice president of racing operations at Remington. The track also has set up an isolation barn that houses the current cases.

“We’re nowhere near those positive horses,” Caldwell said. “You have to be within 30 feet of a horse to catch it. There’s no way we could contract the disease. We haven’t been exposed. Remington has done their due diligence to contain the virus, if there was a virus.”

Vance said Remington’s traditional agreement with horsemen calls for keeping the track open for training 10 days after the close of the meet, but on Friday he was headed into discussions with horsemen about extending those dates.

“Obviously, we’ll do whatever the state regulates us to do, but we’re prepared to stay open if need be,” Vance said. “We will work with our horsemen in terms of what the other tracks in the region’s restrictions are. We’ll help them any way we can.”

Caldwell’s barn will continue training at Remington after the meet closes as he does not have another facility where he can ship his horses. He also said with stall applications closed for winter meets at Fair Grounds and Sam Houston, he will stick with his plans to base at Oaklawn.

Caldwell said he is hoping Oaklawn might reevaluate its shipping policy if the quarantines lifts in the near future. Caldwell said he knows of about 10 trainers at Remington that send stables to Oaklawn. The current leading trainer at Remington is Steve Asmussen, a 10-time title winner at Oaklawn who has divisions of his stable at multiple tracks in North America.

Sam Houston, which starts its Thoroughbred meet Jan. 10, also draws a number of stables from Remington. Sam Houston opened its stable area Dec. 3, but is not allowing horses from a quarantined county or an adjacent county onto its grounds. It is anticipated that when the quarantine is lifted on the barns at Remington, horses will be able to gain entry into Sam Houston.

Remington’s next round of testing is Monday. The track will draw for its final card Wednesday, with the $400,000 Springboard Mile, a points race for the Kentucky Derby, to top that program of six stakes next Sunday.